Method and system for scheduling a stream of products in a manufacturing environment by using process-specific WIP limits

Abstract

By defining a section-related WIP limit or a throughput-related WIP limit, an efficient “look ahead” characteristic may be established to efficiently control the WIP in a complex manufacturing environment, such as a semiconductor facility. The respective critical WIP values may enable efficient reduction of priority of products moving towards an increased WIP queue, thereby reducing or substantially avoiding the release of products that are expected to run into the WIP queue. In this way, the efficiency of shared tools may be increased, since process capacity no longer required for the processing products running into WIP queues may be allocated for other operations.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]Generally, the present disclosure relates to manufacturing processes, and, more particularly, to the scheduling of product streams in a manufacturing environment, such as a semiconductor facility, in which one or more different product types are processed by process and metrology tools based on scheduling regimes.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Today's global market forces manufacturers of mass products to offer high quality products at a low price. It is thus important to improve yield and process efficiency to minimize production costs. This holds especially true in industrial fields, in which highly complex process tools operate on complex products according to specified process parameters that may vary between different product types. A prominent example in this respect represents the field of semiconductor fabrication, since, here, it is essential to combine cutting-edge technology with mass production...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text describes a method and system for controlling the work in progress (WIP) in a complex manufacturing environment, such as a semiconductor facility. The method involves monitoring the process flow with respect to each of the multiple process operations and tools involved in the process. By looking ahead and determining the critical WIP values for each section of the process flow, the system can efficiently control the flow of products and utilize the tool capacity of the process tools. This approach helps to avoid situations where products are processed on tools that are not currently being used, reducing cycle time and improving overall efficiency of the process flow. The WIP control system also includes a process monitor and a system for automatically controlling the process flow.

Problems solved by technology

Enhancing efficiency of tool utilization may, in one aspect, be understood as a strategy for avoiding or reducing any situations in which process operations may be performed on the basis of a sophisticated expensive process tool, while the corresponding product may run into a WIP queue in a later manufacturing stage or may encounter a non-available process tool, thereby blocking precious tool capacity of the sophisticated tool with respect to other products, thereby unduly increasing cycle time of these products.

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